Karl Lagerfeld Movies

Filmmaker Douglas Keeve (Unzipped and Seamless) turns his attentions from the fashion industry to a famous New York City landmark that's undergoing a controversial renovation in this portrait of the legendary Gramercy Park Hotel. In it's early days, the Gramercy was a high-society hot spot - the Kennedys once rented out an entire floor, and a young Humphrey Bogart exchanged his wedding vows there. Later, in the 1970s and 80s, musicians, artists, and junkies haunted the hallways, attracted by the management's "anything goes" policy as well as the Gramercy's affordable room prices. Now, as luxury hotelier Ian Schrager prepares for the grand re-opening of the iconic Hotel Gramercy Park, director Keeve attempts to find what kind of impact this posh renovation will have - positive or negative - on the hotel's notorious reputation as a seedy-chic hotspot. Some residents refused to leave during the construction, and many neighbors resent the glossy makeover that the Gramercy is getting. In addition to speaking with the people who live and work at the Gramercy, Keeve also explores the sometimes-tragic story of the Weissberg family. The Weissbergs have owned and lived in the Hotel Gramercy Park for fifty years, and experienced their fair share of both joy and heartache within its walls. As the Weissbergs reflect on the legacy of the Gramercy, viewers are offered an intimate and comprehensive reflection of a place that has become known as a virtual beacon for the creative and cultural elite. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Chanel head Karl Lagerfeld not only qualifies as one of the most resonantly successful and influential fashion designers of the late 20th century, but one of the most defiantly elusive. With the documentary portrait Lagerfeld Confidential, filmmaker Rodolphe Marconi attempts to change this status. For this film, Marconi gained rare and exclusive one-time access to the designer, and posits a series of direct onscreen questions to Lagerfeld about his famously clandestine personal life, and his towering career in collaboration with such fashion giants as Pierre Balmain, Jean Patou, Repetto, Mario Valentino and many others. Marconi spent two years shooting Lagerfeld (at the mercy of the designer's discretion about what was and wasn't filmed) and edited some 200 hours of Super 8 and HD Footage down to feature length. In the finished film, Marconi repeatedly cuts back-and-forth between candidly shot on-location footage - of Lagerfeld photographing models and actress Nicole Kidman, sketching out dress designs, mounting and coordinating catwalks - and interview footage wherein Lagerfeld reflects at length on his upbringing, his career, his world views, and his proclivities (including atheism and active homosexuality since the age of 13). Deliberately or indeliberately, Marconi avoids extended discussion with Lagerfeld's critics and rivals in the fashion industry. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

The world of high-fashion is explored in this documentary. Much of the film is centered on the professional life of American supermodel Christy Turlington as she travels around the world's fashion centers for photoshoots and runway gigs. The film also offers many glimpses of the glitterati that surround the fashion industry, including designers such as Karl Lagerfeld, and movie stars like Sharon Stone. Naturally the clothing itself also figures prominently. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Consensus opinion is that Paul Morrissey directed L'Amour on his own, despite Andy Warhol's name on the credits. This film has much more of a story than the other Andy Warhol Factory productions, but it takes the same casual approach to nudity and sex. In the story, two female tourists (Donna Jordan and Jane Forth) seek out Michael (Michael Sklar) a wealthy American resident, who has been living with a handsome French boy (Max Delys). Everyone tries, with varying success, to seduce everyone else, though the two men have only an implied relationship. Eventually, Michael decides to marry one of the girls and return to the U.S. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In making this film about a director who is presently working on an autobiographical movie, real-life director Elie Chouraqui has played on a Jewish cultural theme (the "reel" director is Jewish) and the intermixing of 1960s movie-making techniques. In the film, director David is in his 30s and his autobiography brings in details about his growth to adulthood -- his early life along the seacoast in Normandy, his parents, his education, and in the present, his sister and her husband, and a few of his own lovers. Visions of the past enhance the events of the moment, such as in the scene of David's mother's death. In the end, viewers may be able to answer the question posed by the title -- "What makes David run?" ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Director Ivan Passer and screenwriter Peter Stone adapted Paul Erdman's novel concerning a group of con men who arrive in Switzerland and end up conning each other. Michael Caine stars as Doc Fletcher, a lackey for gangster Joe Fiore (Martin Balsam), who is sent to Switzerland to purchase a bank for his boss. Prince di Siracusa (Louis Jourdan) is aiding Doc in his purchase but is working on his own scam. They both meet Shireen Firdausi (Stephane Audran) and Agha Firdausi (David Warner), who are working on their own deal concerning an Iranian silver mine. Also arriving in town is Donald Luckman (Tom Smothers) and his wife Debbie (Cybil Shepherd), sent by banker Henry Foreman (Joss Ackland) to buy a bank as a front for Charles Cook (Charles D. Gray), a billionaire who is looking for a way to disguise his profits. With all these schemers in tow, various confidence games play out and characters switch alliances and obligations, while some wind up in jail. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Docteur Popaul, or Scoundrel in White is a black comedy by Claude Chabrol. It tells of the life and proper comeuppance of Dr. Paul Simay (Jean Paul Belmondo), an unusual sort of ladies' man. At his hospital, there is a bet to see who can seduce the most ugly women. Paul is confident he can win, because he already woos ugly women exclusively. He says he gets much better results from them. When he woos and finally marries Christine (Mia Farrow), buck-teeth, leg-braces and all, he eventually discovers that he has more than met his match. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This strange, surrealistic German horror film from cult director Jesus Franco stars Janine Reynaud as Lorna Green, who performs a pseudo-snuff nightclub act involving erotically staged S&M murders. Lorna's mind is controlled by a man who might be Satan (Michel Lemoine), and she slowly loses her tenuous hold on reality, moving increasingly closer to the night when she begins to really kill. Lorna's nightclub act and the final scenes -- involving a wild orgy where Lorna viciously murders a man named Bill Mulligan (Jack Taylor) -- were cut drastically in some of the film's several release versions. Prints run 93, 84, 81, and 78 minutes. Acclaimed director Fritz Lang called Necronomicon "a beautiful piece of cinema," but its edgy sexuality and hallucinatory tone struck most viewers as confusing and off-putting. This eerie, haunting film co-stars Howard Vernon and Nathalie Nord, while producer Pier A. Caminnecci (who co-scripted) and singer-filmmaker Adrian Hoven also appear. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide